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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015
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SPOTLIGHT
FACEOFF
GROOVING
Two couples share DWTL experiences.
Plant City and Durant will play for hardware.
Area students dance the night away.
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UPDATE by Amber Jurgensen | Managing Editor
Board recommends Red Rose rezone The decision to rezone the motel so that it may be a rehab facility will go to the Commission.
See our photo gallery from Trapnell Elementary’s fall festival, and check back for more fall festivals throughout October.
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OUR TOWN
Barbara Swain stood from the packed rows of chairs at city hall to muscle her way to the podium. Before her had come a slew of tear-filled residents with alcoholic brothers, drug-using friends and relatives who died because of their addictions. But Swain has lived it. “I was in so many rehabs, from the East Coast to the West Coast. From Dade County to Duval County,” Swain, 53, said. She’s been to prison. She’s had two heart attacks and three
strokes. She’s been clean and then back on the streets. Swain addressed the city’s Planning and Zoning Board Thursday, Oct. 8, during a public hearing on the fate of the Red Rose Inn & Suites. Last month, permits were submitted to rezone the property so that a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility may operate on the eastern half of the abandoned motel. The western half would be used as administrative offices and suites where family mem-
bers could visit for up to seven days. “We need this, we need this,” Swain said. “We don’t even have a facility here, in Plant City.” Strawberry grower Carl Grooms agreed. He was there to get a thin portion of one of his properties rezoned but was moved to speak during the Red Rose hearing. His brother had dealt with addiction and came to Grooms for help. “He needed it then, not 30
SEE RED ROSE / PAGE 4
+ MasterChef releases book Plant City resident and season 1 MasterChef winner Whitney Miller Humphrey will release her second cookbook this month. “Whitney Miller’s New Southern Table” is a unique spin on classic southern favorites. “Preserving traditional family flavors, I also add my own special touches by lightening up classic dishes without losing flavor, experimenting with different southern ingredients, and using new techniques and cooking methods I’ve learned over the years,” Miller Humphrey said. Miller Humphrey is from Mississippi but lives in Plant City. She won MasterChef as a 22-yearold college student. Miller Humphrey will be on tour this winter. She will make a stop in Plant City Saturday, Nov. 7, at Fringe Boutique, 601 E. Alexander St. She will have a book signing and food tasting from 5 to 7 p.m.
PONY POWER
Abby Baker
Adyson Gibbons and her 25-year-old horse, Zola, participated in the annual Pink Your Pony Ride. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Plant City equestrians did their part in helping the fight. The ride took place Saturday, Oct. 10, at Bay Lake Stables, in Dover. It raised money for the Brandon Outreach Clinic, and the decorated pink ponies brought awareness to breast cancer. For more pictures go to PlantCityObserver.com.
MOVIE MAGIC by Emily Topper | Staff Writer
+ Family celebrates reunion A Bealsville family celebrated a sibling reunion last month at the Hilton Resort in Orlando. Eight children of the late John and Mary Dell White came together with their spouses to reflect on old times. The five brothers and three sisters, who range from 65 to 85 years old, are: Dorothy Loney, Bertha Ingram, John White, Mary Love, Westley White, Kernal White, Earnest White and Jerry White.
Movie has Plant City ties Many families from the setting of newly-released ‘Big Stone Gap’ migrated to Plant City after an economic downturn. The snow-capped Appalachian Mountains, the western Virginian summers, the dusty coal mines — they are part of what makes Big Stone Gap stand out in Rodney Body’s mind. Body has only been back to the small Virginia town once since his family moved to Plant City in 1960. But he is ready to relive his childhood memories by watching a newly-released major motion picture named after his birthplace. “Big Stone Gap” was officially released in theaters Friday, Oct. 9. The movie stars
Ashley Judd, who plays a 40-year-old, self-proclaimed spinster whose life is turned upside down when she uncovers a family secret. The movie takes place in Big Stone Gap in 1978. “There was a lot of culture (in Big Stone Gap),” Body said. “They had an excellent school system. Big Stone Gap produced a lot of successful people.” One such person is Adriana Trigiani, the director of “Big Stone Gap.” Trigiani also wrote the screenplay for the movie, which is based off of
her New York Times best selling novel of the same name. Body’s aunt, Thelma Carter, was Trigiani’s second-grade teacher. “Big Stone Gap” is currently playing at AMC The Regency 20 in Brandon, Epic Theatres of Clermont, and Cobb Lakeside 18 & IMAX in Lakeland. But it is not playing in Plant City, despite the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World’s rich ties to the mountain town. “It plays in a lot of Plant City’s historical narrative,” Body said. “Many Big Stone
Emily Topper
Rodney Body got a copy of “Big Stone Gap” signed by author Adriana Trigiani. The movie came out Friday, Oct. 9. Gap descendants still live in the area.” After a downturn in the local economy in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of Big Stone Gap natives migrated to Plant City. Body moved from Big
INDEX Calendar........................2
Stone Gap in 1960. Plant City was metropolitan life for the 9-year-old newcomer. When Body started fourth grade at Jackson Elementary School,
SEE GAP / PAGE 4 Vol. 3, No. 11 | One section
Crossword....................17
Obituaries....................13
Sports..........................14
Weather.......................17
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